MBA Media, Entertainment & sports Conference 2026

Saturday, FEBRUARY 7 — COlumbia business school

The MBA Media, Entertainment & Sports Conference is an annual event jointly organized by NYU Stern and Columbia Business School. In its landmark 20th year, the conference is open to students, faculty, and industry professionals, providing industry knowledge and networking opportunities for hundreds of MBAs passionate about the media, entertainment, and sports industries. Through panel discussions, fireside chats, and keynote addresses, the Media, Entertainment & Sports conference generates unique discussions on the current state of the industry and its future.

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schedule

10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

Opening Keynote (Cooperman Commons): Fireside Chat with Michael Worosz - Chief Strategy Officer at Take Two Interactive

Moderated by Jonathan Knee, Michael T. Fries Professor of Professional Practice of Media and Technology; Co-Director

Media and Technology Program at Columbia Business School

11:00 AM - 11:45 AM

Breakout 1A: Monetization in the Age of Information

Anand Venkatesan — SVP, Head of Strategy and Development, New York Times
Judy Wang (Moderator) - Head of Employee Storytelling and Content Strategy, New York Times

Breakout Panel 1B: Virtual Realities: Investing in Gaming

Alex Kruglov — CEO, Pop.in
Logan Light — Director Strategy, Take-Two Interactive
Alexandra Takei — Studio Director, Business and Production, Ruckus Games
Mitu Khandaker (Moderator) — Director, NYU Game Design Future Lab, Associate Arts Professor, NYU Game Center

11:45 PM - 1:30 PM

Lunch & Break

1:30 PM - 2:15 PM

Breakout Panel 2A: Accelerating Sports Strategies

Eric Menell — Managing Director and Co-Head of Media Investment Banking, J.P. Morgan
Andrew Grossman — Chief Growth Officer, New York Mets
Tunde Oguntimein — Vice President, Club Performance and League Growth, Major League Soccer
David Kalan — Senior Marketing Manager, Growth, The Athletic
Justine Gubar (Moderator) — Director of Broadcast Operations, New York Road Runners; Adjunct Instructor, NYU Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport Management Program

Breakout Panel 2B: Follow the Money: Capital Meets Creativity

Patrick Steele — Former Chief Executive Officer, Politico
Miklos Sarvary (Moderator) — Carson Family Professor of Business; Faculty Lead, Media and Technology Program, Columbia Business School

2:30 PM - 3:15 PM

Breakout Panel 3A: Attention as Currency

Darren Goldberg — Lead Global Release Strategy, Amazon Prime Video
Gary Hoffman — Creative Director of Content, Google/YouTube
Andie Liao — Senior Director Streaming Distribution and Strategic Initiatives, Paramount
Aaron Markowitz — Vice President Programming, Peacock
Sheel Shah — Chief Strategy and Operations Partner, Colin and Samir
Sean Gupta (Moderator) — Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business, Columbia Business School; SVP of Corporate Development, TEGNA

Breakout Panel 3B: AI & IP: Owning the Future of Creativity

Kabir Ahuja — Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Pouya Shahbazian — Founder, Staircase Studios
Andrey Simonov (Moderator) — Gary Winnick and Martin Granoff Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School

3:30 PM - 4:15 PM

Closing Keynote (Cooperman Commons): Fireside Chat with Gil Fuchsberg - President, Subscriptions, Partnerships and Corporate Development

Moderated by Sean Gupta, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business

Columbia Business School, SVP of Corporate Development, TEGNA